I love Leeds

This beautiful image is from here.

As you might know, I live in Leeds. I have done for three lovely years now. I've studied and worked 9-5 in Leeds and well I've grown up A LOT! I am about to embark on my final year of my course and I am rather excited!! Oh the creativity is about to burst out of me just at the anticipation. (I am also aware that there will be a whole year of work work work to do before I graduate but I'm not going to  let that scare me - well not right away).

Now, I must admit I haven't even started making the most of living in one of the most fashionable cities in the UK... but all of that is about to change.

It really does!

So yesterday, me and my new lovely friend Lil went to the Victoria Quarter in Leeds to the official launch of the Leeds Loves Shopping Festival which starts October 13th 2011. This was loads of fun, we met independent designers, the people behind the Leeds Guide, Marketing in Leeds, Leeds City Council and even the organiser of the Leeds Fashion Show Anjula Davidson!

It was great fun to talk about my little blog and what I am intending to do with it over the next few months. We also chatted about upcoming events as part of the festival and about the planning and dedication towards planning these events.

We were given lovely goodie bags, with lots of information about the upcoming festival and two little presents!!

 

I received this beautiful hair clip from Life's Big Canvas and a bath bomb from Patisserie De Bain.

I have made so many contacts in Leeds, which hopefully will lead to me getting involved more with Fashion Activities all over the city!

Look for companies and organisations in Leeds on Twitter if you live in the area if you'd like to do more to get involved too!

Check out leedslovesshopping.com for everything you need to know about the festival, and I will keep you updated with everything I get upto as part of the festival right here, so don't forget to check back!!

Who Lives in Leeds and would like to get involved too?! Leave me a lovely little thought below!

Designed with Purpose

A little while ago, I received an email about a website called Goodfibres... I wasn't really sure what it was about however since then the site has opened and I think it's a nifty little idea!

So, what is Goodfibres? The website (you'll find a link below) states in it's mission that:

"Goodfibres is building a community for artists, and those who appreciate art, to share their tastes and talent to promote cool designs for a good cause. We believe that the individual spirit of many can be used to collectively inspire, and directly impact many people’s lives. We hope to build a unique relationship between our artists and our customers by providing a venue for artists to showcase their other projects and by allowing customers to voice their support and feedback on new designs. Additionally, we hope to create a forum where users can discuss causes that they feel strongly about and collectively choose the future recipients for our clothing donations (and hopefully soon other items like art supplies, medicine and drinking water)."

Goodfibres allows just about everyone, to design a t-shirt that is then showcased and voted for by people who actually want to buy it. Once it has received enough positive feedback, the t-shirt is then made (sustainably and ethically!) and for each one that is sold, Goodfibres will donate a t-shirt to someone less fortunate! The good news for the designer is that they hold all rights to their artwork/design and they receive some of the royalties. Therefore the designer is rewarded for their work, and they're helping someone less fortunate in the process of selling their designs. I've included some examples of artwork that you can vote for online, just some that caught my eye.

 Anyone can get involved in this cause, whether it is designing a t-shirt or simply just purchasing one!! Simply go to www.goodfibres.com to see what you think!

All images were taken from the Goodfibres website.

New Shoes for Topman

Marc Hare has designed a collection of shoes just for Topman which goes on sale in August, online and in selected stores. I read about this collection on GQ Online and automatically loved the style of these shoes. Priced from £85, these shoes are stylish, smart and sleek, which contrasting outer materials ranging from suede to alligator print collaborated throughout the range.

All images from gq-magazine.co.uk.

Mark Ronson and his shoes for Gucci

"Run DMC had their Adidas. Kanye's still the Louis Vuitton Don. So it makes perfect sense that Best-Dressed Mainstay, former GQ Man of the Year and self-confessed "avid sneaker addict" Mark Ronson would try his hand at a footwear collaboration. After bonding with Gucci's Creative Director Frida Giannini over her impeccable musical taste, Ronson has designed a limited edition range of trainers that will be sold exclusively in a new pop-up store, Gucci Icon-Temporary that opens in London on 22 April."

 

These trainers reflect Ronson's style completely. In the picture above you can see one is Polka Dot (a favourite of the musician's) and the other is a stylish grey flannel, these are the two that are unique to the London store. His obsession for sneakers started at a young age and after sharing the same taste in music with Frida Giannini they began working together. The article on GQ's website talks about the joint venture, Ronson's inspirations, his new CD and his style.

Watch a video about the new store here. To read the full article and interview click here.

Paul Smith - Paris - Autumn/Winter 2010/2011

For a little break from revision I decided to have a little look at some of the catwalks for Autumn/Winter 2010/2011. Paul Smith is a favourite designer of mine so I decided to look at his latest collection, which I found was quite inspiring.

Smith has designed a range of garments in both casual and formal style, teaming together over sized coats with modern, sophisticated tailoring. His used of contrasting patterns throughout the outfits compliments the Paul Smith brand well, allowing stripes, checks and patterned shirts to be teamed together without a second thought.

The collection, suitable for a range of ages, is made up of dark, subdued colours with the occasional bright. The reds, blacks and blues are pieced together to give the collection warmth, but also as key pieces that will work with whatever else you buy.

The overcoats are asymmetrical, with exaggerated features such as hoods collars and shoulders. The heavy fabrics have been played with the create the best drape so that the coat sits right no matter how it is worn.

Not only were patterns used with each other, Smith has designed shirts with contrasting collars and cuffs, Jackets with contrasting lapels (mixing some with knitted features) and lustrous and matted fabrics have been used together to create unique, stylish ensembles.

See more of the collection here.

Nonwovens Nonsense - The Trousers

A few weeks ago, I posted about the second semester's Garment Technology project FASHION: Decoratif, and showed a sample of a jacket front we had made based on a piece from Margiela's current Spring/Summer 2010 collection. We were given a floral jacket, which we decided to replicate in two different ways, and to also make a pair of trousers, to go with both. The deadline for this project was last Friday, however we have been limited in the construction of the jackets so these are not complete for me to show yet, but pictures of all finished garments will be up as soon as possible.

Originally we wanted the trousers to be sonic bonded, but with pressure growing we decided as a group to make them ourselves. The fabric we had chosen for our jackets and trousers was PVC, which we have now found out is a difficult fabric to sew and make garments from, but the challenge was worth it in the end. The trousers have laser cut strips and back pockets, based on a floral net curtain we purchased from the market. Below you will find the construction pages we put together and also a photo of the trousers we took before we put the waistband on.

All Images of Group work by Amy Gibson, Emma Clarke and myself, image of trousers is taken from my own camera

Nonwovens Nonsense?

This semester in Garment Technology, we have had group work in a project called Nonwoven: Decoratif. My group, made up of Amy, Emma and myself (all menswear designers) were given a leather jacket with embroidered cross-stitch roses embellished over the front and sleeves, designed by Martin Margiela. We were also asked to design and make some nonwoven trousers that would work with the key piece. Unsure on where to take this, we tried out a number of different experiments to help us decide on the route we would take with this jacket. We tried tie-dye, beading, painting, sculpting and just about everything you could think of. Eventually we came up with some very inspiring ideas.

Using PVC for all our nonwoven garments, we have come up with 3 very different, but well themed items. The trousers will be pretty basic, sonic bonded with laser cut strips and pockets as their decoration. The first jacket is clear with green coverstitched seams and bright red and blue felt roses placed in a similar fashion to Margiela's original jacket. Our second jacket is painted silver and gold with a haybale netting texture teamed with sequins and beading stitched to create abstract flowers over the jacket.

All of this has been challenging but very inspiring, and now as we watch the garments being put together, it is getting very exciting and we get closer to the end of year show that will document our items.

Below is an early sample of the jacket with roses, to display how these would work in the final garment.

Image from my own camera of work by myself, Emma Clarke and Amy Gibson.

Iceberg Spring/Summer 2010

Looking at Spring/Summer 2010 for men is inspirational for me, and allows me to see what other designers have been inspired by, the colours they have used and how their collection comes together. Looking on GQ online, I have found a great collection by Iceberg. The colours, prints, patterns and even style features and accessories work well within themselves as a collection, but create a range of styles.

To most of the garments there is a lightweight, airy feel, very suitable for the season and the colours add to this in their pastel hues and greys and neutrals.

Links in accessories and footwear make this collection connect, which is something I hope to achieve in my next design project's final illustrations.

Thee is a very simple shape, which fits close to the body, but gives a structured look to the outfit. Blazers, short jackets, cropped trousers, colour blocks t-shirts and checked shirts all feature within this look.

Features such as the placings of the flowers on the lapels and breast pockets create links between the jackets where only one or two would be bought within a collection. This gives their collection a signature so that people might associate flowers like these with this specific collection.

Click here see more of this collection.

Images are from www.gq.co.uk

Do it Yourself

In the March 2009 edition of ELLE magazine, four alternative covers were featured, each designed by a different designer. Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano, Christopher Kane and Stella McCartney all designed covers to celebrate the 25th anniversary for London Fashion Week. Each design in unique, each reflecting its designer. The designs are very inspiring, each with their own individual style, something I wish to achieve throughout my career as a designer that I will be able to display within all aspects of my work.

The first was designed by Vivienne Westwood, who when asked about the inspiration for her design suggested "In these hard times - Dress up. Do it Yourself!".

This cover was designed by John Galliano and supports British fashion. Galliano was quoted "Rule Britannia and long live British fashion! Here's to 25 years of London Fashion week, 25 years of Galliano and 25 years of changing the way we look! Here anything is possible, anything goes. Be bold, be fearless - be a true Brit!".

Christopher Kane used Polaroids taken before his S/S 2009 fashion show, which symbolised the end of the design process, captured the memories of show nerves and the transformation for the clothes.

Stella McCartney used her Comic Relief t-shirt designs as a basis for her cover. This cover not only raises awareness of Comic Relief and Red Nose Day but also shows fashion and its role and strength in ending poverty. The t-shirts provided jobs in Africa and were organic and Fairtrade.

All images are taken from my camera, and are of ELLE 2009.

Design Development

Below is a selection of some work from a Design Development project. This was the first time I'd really attempted to draw fashion illustrations and to create fully readable flat drawings of a final capsule collection. As a reminder, at the beginning of term the class was put into groups and researched into a designer's brand, customer, and style and researched into trends. Our designer was Martin Margiela. Once the research element was complete we then designed individually. First I am showing four pages of design development where I work through each garment, altering style features developing them to make a collection that will work together but also a range of garment styles within this. I started my design process by writing a list of the areas I wanted to design in and what percentage these would take up in my design development.


I started with jacket shapes and styles, looking at past examples in collections and thinking about how they could be structured.


I then looked at trousers and shirts, creating a formal aspect in my designs, but there were also casual jersey items, leather jackets and trousers.


Below are two flat boards. I scanned in my design development flats of the ones i was using in my capsule collection and traced over them in illustrator. I tried to make them as clear as possible and easy to read.


I stuck squares of fabric samples to the board displaying not only the fabric that would make up each design, but also the colour.


My illustration pages were next drawn up. I'd practiced some styles of figures in my development and practiced drawing on my garments. I then tried different ways to color them and chose this style.
I used this background and layout as Margiela is known for his simplistic style, as you can see from his website.

Images are of my own work.

The Fashion Book

The Fashion Book is fashion's equivalent to the Art Book. I bought this book at the end of the summer and it's like my little fashion dictionary. It's small, compact and concise. The book features designers (fashion and textiles), illustrators, photographers, models and icons from the past 150 years and is really inspirational. I decided to invest in this book after choosing to study the 20th Century Fashion. Below are some photographs from the book showing layout. Each page features a different person, has a photograph showing an aspect of their work and includes information about them and where they fit into the fashion world. The list of designers and icons is in alphabetical order, which not only makes it easier to find information on a specific person but can also create juxtapositions between the creators and their work. The book includes quotes and gives a short biography, sometimes with information you might not have found elsewhere. For example in the entry about Stella McCartney the book claims "on Friday and Saturday mornings McCartney would garner antique buttons and vintage clothes, which explains the romantic strand of her style". I'd recommend this book for all with an interest in fashion.

Below are some photographs of some of the pages in the book including Stella McCartney, Kate Moss, Paul Smith, Thierry Mugler and Willi Smith.

Photographs are from my camera of The Fashion Book, Phaidon Press, 1998.